More than three quarters of the production was sold by American Lincoln-Mercury dealers from 1972 to 1975; after this agreement ended De Tomaso kept manufacturing the car in ever smaller numbers into the early 1990s.

[4] Reflecting its makers' transatlantic ambitions, the Pantera came with an abundance of standard features which appeared exotic in Europe, such as electric windows, air conditioning and even "doors that buzz when ...

[4] By the time the Pantera reached production stage, the interior was in most respects well sorted, although resting an arm on the central console could lead to inadvertently activating the poorly located cigarette lighter.

The high torque provided by the Ford engine reduced the need for excessive gear changing at low speeds: this made the car much less demanding to drive in urban conditions than many of the locally built offerings.

The GTS was developed for Group 3 racing and received a more powerful engine with 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp) DIN at 6000 rpm, thanks to a 11.0 : 1 compression ratio (versus 8.0 : 1 in the US market Pantera), larger Holley carburetors, a forged aluminum intake manifold, and freer flowing exhaust headers.

The GTS also has considerably wider wheels, a more aggressive steering rack setup, ventilated disc brakes, adjusted spring rates and gear ratios, and conspicuous matte black body elements.

The first 75 cars were simply European imports and are known for their "push-button" door handles and hand-built Carrozzeria Vignale bodies.

Subsequently, Ford increased their involvement in the production of the later cars with the introduction of precision stampings for body panels which resulted in improved overall quality.

A new 5.8 L (351 cu in) four-bolt main Cleveland Engine, was used with lower compression ratio (from 11:1 to 8.6:1, chiefly to meet US emissions standards and run on lower octane standard fuel) but with the more aggressive "Cobra Jet" camshaft (featuring the same lift and duration as the 428 Cobra Jet's factory performance cam) in an effort to reclaim some of the power lost through the reduction in compression ratio along with a dual point distributor.

It was so improved that the 1973 DeTomaso Pantera was Road Test Magazine's Import car of the year[clarify] beating offerings from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, and Porsche.

The European GTS model had sparked interest in the United States, with several grey market cars being imported and many of the performance parts being offered.

Presley fired two shots into the dashboard with a small-caliber revolver, after he couldn't get the car to start, shattering his windshield and deflating the front tire.

De Tomaso continued to build the car in ever-escalating forms of performance and luxury for almost two decades for sale in the rest of the world.

After a falling out over low quality work, De Tomaso switched to Embo S.p.A., who went on to build the next 504 Panteras from 1979 until the end of production.

[16][17] From May 1980, the lineup included the GT5, which had bonded and riveted-on fibreglass wheelarch extensions and from November 1984 the GT5-S model which had blended arches and a distinctive wide-body look.

[17] The GT5 also incorporated better brakes, a more luxurious interior, much larger wheels and tires and the fiberglass body kit also included an air dam and side skirts.

Stopping power was improved by the addition of four-wheel ventilated and drilled disc brakes with Brembo calipers that were shared with the Ferrari F40.

Special equipment of the Group 3 cars included Campagnolo wheels (15 x 8 inches at the front and 15 x 10 inches at the rear), adjustable Koni shocks, racing brakes and special safety equipment required at the time: plexi-glass windows with cutouts, a roll bar, fire extinguisher and racing bucket seats.

The engine was mated to a 5-speed close ratio gearbox with a heavy duty single plate clutch and a limited slip differential.

The double wishbone suspension was substantially modified and Koni adjustable shocks were used in order to improve handling at the track and make room for wider Campagnolo wheels and tyres.

Bigger ventilated brakes supplied by Girling and a quick ratio steering rack were used to refine handling and stopping power.

The interior was fitted with a cut-off switch instead of a radio, light weight cloth bucket racing seats, a vinyl trim, a roll-cage and drilled aluminium pedals.

The engine was mated to a ZF 5-speed close ratio manual transmission with a heavy duty single clutch plate.

[31] Italian car manufacturer Ares Design introduced the Project1 in 2019 as a modern reinterpretation of the Pantera, based on the Lamborghini Huracán chassis.